Night of The Dead- Chapter 12: The Loss

We’re already traversing the northern parts of the city, currently heading eastwards. Kheez and Crucist were now entering and exiting passing-by buildings in search of supplies we might need to sustain our lives with until we can find the data that we’re here for. I have changed our mission objectives, after hearing Pyut’s explanation to the reason he didn’t want to leave this city yet.
“We were sent here to collect and compile information about this city. This mission was to help the UWE understand better the problem that had been going on in this, and other cities suffering from similar fallouts.”
“And I assume that you collected them and have them stored somewhere now?”
“The situation became more complex for us that we’d thought.”
“That being?”
“The information disks were destroyed.” Pyut paused. “Along with three of our men.”
The Major was dead ahead of me, now regretting the recall of certain situations that happened before our arrival.
“There’s nothing left in these buildings,” Crucist reported as he was coming out of an entrance to a bank. The enormous green and blue signboard still lit, hung proud above a now shattered glass door.
We were then joined by Kheez, who failed to recover anything of use. To our right laid another sight to behold. It was a field with wooden fences running along and across it. In the middle of it were human bodies stacked to a hill, still engulfed in flames. We stopped a while and stooped our heads low to offer our respects. The sight, though not witnessed for the first time already, still gave me chills. As we passed the field, I noticed something else to our right, where a cross junction met. A couple of bodies were staked onto rusted steel poles standing steadfast on the asphalt road. Flies roamed around them, and we could see their bodies already rotting from decay.
“What in the world could’ve done something like this?” Kheez commented with disgust, spitting out saliva to clear the stench from the bodies that was already getting into his throat.
“The people firstly thought that the mutations were caused by a disease from these decaying mutated beings. The mayor closed down the city stadium to burn the dead in piles,” Pyut explained, still taking the lead up ahead.
Kheez moved his eyes away from the Night Cat trailing behind the pack, and said, “So what was the real reason for these mutations?”
“They’re in the water. All of the city’s water supplies were contaminated by the radiation caused by the fallout. A professor in my team said that the anti-matter’s chain of integrity collapsed and started binding with O2 instead.”
“O2?”
“Water, you idiot,” Kheez enlightened Crucist.
“Oh, so since your insult friend suddenly decides to fall brainless, you’re looking for substitutes?” Crucist appeared to be offended by Kheez’s remark already.
“Hey. Chill out. I’ll try to refrain myself, okay.”
Crucist gave Kheez a defensive stare, and turned to face Pyut in search for more answers.
“So are we not supposed to be under the rain? Since the rain is water from the city,” Crucist asked.
Kheez gave out a burst of laughter and looked at Crucist with a sinister sneer.
“I promised not to insult you anymore. But if you’re gonna keep leaving our goal post unguarded, how can you expect me not to score that goal!!”
“Water from rain is distilled, Crucist,” I cut in to explain.
Silence fell again, nobody seemingly wanted to venture further into the topic in hopes to avoid any confrontation.

“I don’t care what you say, Crucist. Me and my little brother are going to kill those bastards who did these things to my family.”
Sam had an almost complete resemblance to his younger brother, who had just enlisted himself into the force. He was outside, along with his batch of newly joined cadets. Sam, known to the UWA Marine Corps as Frenzy, was alone with Crucist in a hall floored with parquet and lined with one basketball court overlapping two volley ball courts.
“This is stupid. What would your mom say if she was alive?”
“She’s dead, man. So is my baby brother, so is my sister. They were looking forward to a bright future, leaving behind the shit hole where we grew up. Crucist.” Sam turned away from Crucist. The darkness was already hiding most of his body away from Crucist’s view.
“You won’t understand our situation, even if I tell you how it felt like inside me.”
“Sam. Chris looked up to you. From the day he was born, to the day your dad died, to the day he scored for his exams year after year, to the day he left studies to sign up for the force. Be a good brother, Sam. Let him have a future we all could only dream about.”
Sam got up and left the table he and Crucist were sitting on. He began pacing around silent. Crucist turned to the double door leading to the outside. Light flooded into the dark hall from a small glass that was etched onto one of the doors.
“We need to avenge their deaths, Crucist.”
“You don’t need that!” Crucist got up from the table already, his voice now firm and loud.
“Tell me something, Crucist.” Sam moved fast towards Crucist now, inching closer face to face. They could hear each other’s heavy breathing from the agitation.
“What do you understand about revenge?”
“That it fucking sucks.” Crucist said it with his teeth firmly clenched together.
Both of them stared silently at each other for a moment, seeing only what the lights from outside allowed. Crucist now saw that Sam’s green eyes had no slight hints of tranquility in them anymore. Then, Sam backed off and wandered the hall alone.
“Listen to me, Sam. It’s not worth it.”
“Fuck the worth. I’m doing it for my family.” The voice echoed on walls hidden within the darkness.
“You’re doing it for yourself. I know I did.” Crucist’s voice was a little softer now.
“Your dad was rich. He owned an oil rig, for god’s sake!”
“He and my mom and my 5 year-old brother were all killed in front of my eyes.”
There was no reply. The tapping sounds of footsteps made only by military boots marched themselves closer to Crucist now. He could already see Sam’s figure, but not hear his response, as if waiting for the rest of the story.
“I killed them all. I suffered for 3 years living with the people that killed my family. One day, I slaughtered them all.”
Crucist stopped to force a gulp through his throat.
“I joined the faction that did those things. I lived with them, and to earn their trust, I killed for them. I ate on the same table as the ones that pulled the knife across my brother’s throat and left him choking in his own fucking blood.”
A drop of tear ran down his cheek. ‘Good thing its dark here,’ he thought to himself.
“I played and studied with them. I made friends with the son of the guy who planted 6 bullets into my dad before killing him, Sam.”
There was a long moment of silence that hung within the darkness of the empty hall. Occasionally, the light from outside would be killed by people constantly roaming around outside the hall’s doors.
“I feel useless, Crucist. I am the oldest son in the family. My responsibility as the man of the house is to provide for them. I failed. Do you know how fucking useless that feels like?” Sam’s voice was already breaking up. He was crying in the dark.
“Sometimes I’d pray to God. I’d ask Him to help my mom marry another guy. For what its worth, man. It’ll at least put food on our table. But that bitch loves that dead idiot so much! She’d rather crawl past the years than to marry another guy!” He was already yelling out his stress at the top of his lungs.
“Its ok, man. I understand your feelings. Its torturous when you see your family suffer, and you not being able to do anything about it. But you have to stop dwelling on your past, and focus on what you have today. Chris.” Crucist pointed at the direction of the door on their right.

“From that day onwards, Sam made a promise to himself in front of me. He regretted having his brother join the force, and he wanted to move on to the higher ranks. This way, he’d have the authorities to keep Night Cat within safe missions,” Crucist said.
We were passing a back lane of the buildings, and I could see Pyut making a right turn as he hit the road again. The rest of us followed suit. When I reached the end of the lane, I gained visibility of the road outside. It was a road from the south and turning right eastwards, and we were on our way downwards. Pyut was planting a few explosives where the road bent.
“I need you guys to listen to this,” he said while he was plugging in the bombs and placing them next to each other on the ground.
“Firstly, we unload all our supplies down south where a cross junction is. Then, we will lure out a few fat ass monsters. When we see those things coming at us, we move up to here,” he pointed to the turn of the road.
“Keep on the right end of the road, and keep firing at them. Let those things stand right on top of my explosives, and I’ll blow them.”
The rest of us were still a blur. What fat thing? Why the cross junction?
“Don’t worry about trying to make sense of it now. You’ll know when the time comes. But make sure you remember the plan. Nobody’s gonna be dying today. Are we all clear?”
“Sir!” the affirmation echoed across buildings along the road.
“And Night. I need you to keep an eye on those fat monsters. Start shooting them from far, so they’d bleed so much we don’t have to waste too much time on them. This is important. Clear?”
No reply came. Pyut got off his bombs to look for Night Cat. He was on his way down to the junction already.
“Sergeant Major Night Cat! I am giving you an order!”
No reply came from him. Infuriated, Pyut marched down to the junction chasing after Night Cat. It was at least a 300 meter distance from the right turn to the junction. Along that road, there were no aisles or junctions. There were no building entrances either. As I reached the junction, I saw crates placed around the junction like low walls used in battlefields. Four lamp posts stood around the junction, one on each corner illuminating the area very well.
It was there where Pyut caught hold of Night Cat’s vest by the neck. He threw Night Cat around and sent him a sudden punch in his face. Night Cat almost instantly dropped his gun and replied the punch. He missed Pyut by a mile, sending his body thrashing onto the soaked ground.
“Look at yourself. Pathetic! Captain Ixate!” he turned to look at me.
“Is this the bullshit you recruited into your team?!” Pyut yelled out, pointing at Night Cat, who was currently on his knees and head drooped away from our visibility.
“Your team has a very credible reputation. Have him expelled once you get back to base!” I didn’t say anything, and neither did anyone else. Pyut then turned towards Night Cat, and paced to him. He then squat down and pulled Night Cat’s head up by the hair on his back.
‘This guy’s insane,’ I thought. But I didn’t dare do anything to protect my team member. We need Night Cat too much to let him continue on like this.
“Chris. Before your brother died saving me, he asked for a favor. He knew you’d come. And he asked me to take care of you.”

“Pyut.” A cough broke the sentence. Pyut was holding Frenzy to rest on his thighs. He was bleeding. The Kevlar vest Frenzy was wearing tore from claw marks, blood overflowing from everywhere.
“Shut the fuck up, okay. The less you talk the easier it will be for the medic to save your life,” Pyut said, his voice trying as much as possible not to sound shivery.
“You’re my best friend. Don’t give me that fucking bullshit about me not dying.”
“You need to hang on. Your brother needs you. He’s on his way now. Ixate’s team will definitely bring him along. Don’t you fucking die on me like this!”
“Take care of him for me.”
“I don’t need to do no taking care of your brother. Medic!!!. Hang on there. You can make it. Medic!!! Where the hell is that bastard?!” Pyut kept running his eyes around, looking for the team’s medic, and back at Frenzy.
“Sam. He’s coming now. You’ll be alright, okay.” He noticed that Frenzy already had his eyes shut. He tried slapping him awake.
“Sam! Don’t sleep now. A little while more. You can hold on.” The pair of eyes did not open themselves. Pyut continued slapping Frenzy across his face, left and right.
“Sam! Sam! Don’t you fucking do this to me, man!”
“Sam!!”